


Ron Weasley and the Triad of Support

by LittleBozSheep



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexuality, Auror Harry Potter, BAMF Luna Lovegood, Blaise is a good boyfriend, Both Twins Live, Dancing, Draco does whatever Draco does, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hermione Granger Bashing, Hogwarts Professors, Humour, Light Angst, Mentions of a Panic Attack, Multi, Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Romance, Sassy Draco Malfoy, School Reunion, Slow Dancing, Sorry Hermione, Supportive Relationship, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Triad - Freeform, lots of cameos, minimal angst, post-epilogue, seeing ex's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23065843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBozSheep/pseuds/LittleBozSheep
Summary: When Ron stresses over the 10yr school reunion and seeing Hermione for the first time since their disastrous split, his partners take it on their shoulders to cheer him up.Taking an ansty situation, removing the angst and adding fluff.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom/Ron Weasley/Blaise Zabini
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107
Collections: HP Triad!Fest





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Triad fest, using this prompt;  
>  **Prompt:** at Hogwarts, Neville is the Herbology professor, Blaise is Arithmancy Professor and Ron is the Flying Instructor. 10 years after the war, Ron’s divorced, Neville’s never wanted to settle down and Blaise is asexual  
>  **Pairing** : Neville/Blaise/Ron
> 
> Quick thank you to the many people who helped me keep writing and not give up.  
> [CheekyTorah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheekyTorah/pseuds/CheekyTorah) for Betaing  
> [Marchono Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarchnoGirl/profile) for cheerleading  
> [KeyFlight790](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyflight790/pseuds/keyflight790) for answering my never-ending questions & letting me bounce ideas off.  
> [MaesterChill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaesterChill/pseuds/MaesterChill) for naming the cafe (I love this name so much)
> 
> Re the mention of a panic attack - it happens in ch5 and I’ve explained more in the notes there <3

~~

Dear Mr Weasley,

Please join us to celebrate the ten-year reunion of the Hogwarts class of 1999! 

Saturday XXth at Seven pm, at the Leaky cauldron, 

Hope to see you then!. 

Luna

P.s. May the Nargles leave your dancing shoes free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron put the invite down on the desk, and leant back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. Ten years. Ron couldn’t believe it had been ten years since the war had ended. So much has changed since then. He wasn’t anywhere near where he pictured himself being. If someone asked him 10 years ago where he would be now, his answer would have been still married to Hermione with kids and still working as an Auror. But life never worked that way, he hadn’t spoken to Hermione in well over a year, and if he was honest, he was quite happy about that fact. Just thinking about it brought back both good and bad memories from the past he’d rather not think about. 

Picking up the invite again, Ron started to play with the dog-eared corners, as his eyes scanned the page again, unsurprised when the words hadn’t changed. Deep in thought, he nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice broke the silence. Spinning on his chair Ron found Neville sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. Baffled at how he’d managed to completely miss the sound of someone not only entering the room but crossing it as well. 

“We don’t have to go, we can skip it, there’ll always be another reunion,” Neville spoke again, this time his words soft with sympathy, nodding towards the invite. 

“No, don’t be stupid, go without me,” Ron threw the invite onto the desk. He wasn’t going to ruin the others' fun because of a bad divorce. 

“We aren’t going to leave you here, lumped in your own misery,” Neville argued, almost reading Ron’s mind.

“Nev’s right,” Blaise said causing Ron to jump again, not realising he was also here, “You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” Blaise continued from his spot lurking in the doorway arms crossed, “Either we all go or no one goes.” 

Neville burst out into laughter at Blaises’ words. As he attempted to jump from the bed, only slightly stumbling before reaching out for both men’s hands, dragging them together. 

“All for one...!” Neville started, raising an eyebrow at the other encouraging them to continue. Blaise scoffed while shaking his head.

“And one for all,” Ron chuckled back as he engulfed the others in a group hug. He really hadn’t expected Neville to love that muggle film so much when he recommended they watch it last month. 

Blaise was the first to step away, unsurprisingly. As the remaining pair stayed hugging in the middle of the room while Blaise worked around them.

“Right, guys I've got class,” Blaise broke the remaining cuddle party in the centre of the room with his words. 

“What? Nooo, but we love you, you can’t leave,” Ron playfully pouted, knowing how much it would annoy Blaise.

“You can love me while I'm in another room,” Blaise deadpanned, as he finished shoving the marked homework into his bag. 

“We'll write sonnets about how much we miss you,” Neville declared, still standing with an arm around Ron’s waist. 

Ron’s eyes lit up as he turned back to Neville, “One of a kind, sonnets!” He added with a nod, ideas swirling around in his head.

“Well, now I'm definitely off,” Blaise picked up his bag, heading over to the pair.

Ron noticed the way Blaise’s goodbye hug was slightly tighter than normal. When Blaise started to pull away, Ron couldn’t help himself and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. 

“Must you do that?” Blaise pulled a grim face, as he made a show of wiping his cheek. 

When Ron had first accepted the teaching job at Hogwarts he would have taken Blaise words seriously. However, now he knew the guy better, he could tell he was joking and see the laughter in his eyes. 

“For the ghost feel of your skin on his lips, as a tentative reminder of your presence in his life,” Neville babbled waving an arm around, causing Ron to burst out into laughter, only laughing more at Blaise’s shocked expression.

“On that note, I’m off, bye,” Blaise escaped from the room before he could hear anymore. Neville and Ron continued to shout more terrible poems at the door before bursting into laughter. 

“Erm,” Neville awkwardly broke the silence after they finished laughing, a concerned look on his face.

“Are you also teaching this period?” Ron read his mind. 

“Yes,” Neville slowly commented, almost unsure if he should be leaving. 

“Go! Teach the future kids how to poison people,” Ron waved him off with a smirk and a wink. Quietly embracing the warmth of Neville's hug and kiss before he raced out the room.

Waving as the door closed, Ron once more felt the weight of the silent room on his shoulders, glancing around he sighed. He hated empty rooms; it took him back to unhappy times. If anyone asked, he would say it was from growing up with a big family. But the reality was the flashbacks of him sitting in his and Hermione's house alone after she had left him. The sounds echoing around the empty shell of a house he once saw as his forever family home. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Ron wandered back to his desk. 

He picked up the invite again to glare at the date. Ron was already stressed about the team’s Quidditch match at the end of the week. This reunion was just the icing on the cake. Why did it have to be planned so close to their tournament?. The team had got further through the competition than anyone had expected, and now the pressure was building. Now he just had to come up with a winning gameplay to get them the cup. 

Spinning around in his chair, he threw the invite on the bed. Spotting Neville’s plushy Bluebells as he did it. The toy sat almost mockingly staring directly at him. The Cornish pixie grin just added to the evil Auror it was giving off. Sitting smugly in its window seat.

“Stop staring at me!” Ron hissed towards the plush toy as he got up and turned it to face out the window again. He wondered how long it would stay facing that direction this time. Returning to his seat, Ron really hated that thing. It had been terrifying when he first spotted it at the funfair, sadly time hadn’t made it look any better. If anything it looked even more terrifying now, however, Neville really loved it. 

He remembered the day they had got Bluebells. It had been a changing point for him and Blaise’s relationship. Things had been rocky - to say the least - when Ron first took up the professor job at Hogwarts, Neville had welcomed him with open arms, Blaise, not so much. They were still in the awkward limbo space where Ron was convinced Blaise hated his guts when the funfair turned up outside Hogsmeade and Luna had forced them to go. While Ron still wasn’t entirely sure what he did right that evening, clearly he had done something, as his entire relationship with Blaise changed in that one evening. Suddenly Blaise wasn’t glaring like he was the worst creature on the planet, but rather treating him like a trusted friend, which quickly morphed into more.

Ron let his mind replay that evening’s events, with a small smile. 

They hadn’t been at the funfair for long before Neville spotted the Cornish Pixies toys hanging up, at one of the stands. Declaring his love for them, while Luna started a one-woman argument about how Cornish Pixies were actually just playful and childlike creatures, and not evil or mischievous as most thought. In the end, the group had stood in the cold for nearly half an hour as Neville attempted and failed to win the toy before they managed to pull him away. 

Later on that evening, Luna had convinced Neville to join her on the kid’s scary house train ride. Watching the pair leave, Ron took the chance to slip away, completely baffled when Blaise had decided to silently follow him, without asking just gliding along glaring down at everyone they passed. When they finally made it back to the stall, the stallholder just eyed them up with a big smile declaring to know exactly what they were after. 

The game had been rigged. Of course, it had been rigged, Ron hadn’t been surprised. He still ended up spending more money trying to win the daft toy, then it would have taken him to buy it. Blaise had spent the entire time standing shaking his head at Ron’s every miss, every so often adding scaling remarks about how the flying professor could be this bad at hand-eye coordination. Without giving a hint of constructive criticism. At the time, Ron was ready to start a physical fight with the guy. However, looking back at the situation now, and knowing Blaise better, he realised it was just the anti-social git’s way of trying to get to know him. It had worked, they ended up having a conversation over how evil the stallholder had been and how much time they had wasted. 

Regardless of their fighting, He could still remember how Neville's face lit up when he came back with Luna, and they had given him the plush toy. Sometimes Neville really did act more like he was fifteen years old than nearing thirty years old. The image still made him smile, he hadn’t missed the way Blaise had also been biting back a smile at the scene. 

Neville had dubbed the plush toy ‘bluebells’, and it had been given pride of place in the middle of the window to their room. Where it had stayed, even after Ron had unofficially moved in with them. It didn’t matter how many times Ron turned this thing so it was facing out the window, it still found its way back to sitting just at the right angle to stare into Ron’s soul. Neville had sworn blind it wasn't him, even going as far as blaming the nargles. Which left Blaise. 

Ron knew it was Blaise, while he didn’t have any evidence yet, he was sure one day Blaise would slip up and be caught moving the ‘cursed doll’ as Blaise had named it. And when that did happen, he would get his own back. After all, it couldn’t be the doll moving itself. Ron chuckled at the thought, before looking over his shoulder. The toy was still facing out the window, but Ron was still feeling uncomfortable, so he placed his empty lunch box upside down over the stuffed toy. Then placing a book on top, just to be sure it couldn’t get out. Shaking his head Ron knew it was ridiculous he still felt a bit safer. Knowing it was trapped. 

Turning his attention back to his gameplans, he tried to distract his mind from the reunion. He had to come up with a winning gameplay. The team wasn’t going to win the tournament if they continue to play like they are now. Especially considering how good the Beauxbatons Academy’s team was, they had steep competition. Some first-years could fly better than his team right now. He wondered if he could convince Headmistress McGonagall to let him take some first years with him. 


	2. The Greenhouse

“You are in a chipper mood this morning,” Neville commented, watching Ron shovel his fourth plate of scrambled egg into his mouth. 

“I finally worked out the issues in my game plan last night, We are going to kick Beauxbaton Academy’s arse with this plan!” Ron replied energetically.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” Blaise commented, without looking up from the homework he was marking last minute.

“Good Morning, all!” A bubbly voice grabbed the trio’s attention. 

“Morning, Luna!” Neville and Ron replied in sync, watching the blonde dancing up the steps towards the high table.

“Morning!” She laughed back, taking her glasses off. 

“I didn’t expect to see you today,” Neville questioned. 

“Just picking up Sybil Trelawney’s newest prophecies, We are going to have a special article in the Daily Prophet this week!” She held up her notebook with a bite taken out of it. Ron wondered if she had bought it like that or if one of her many strange creatures had bitten it. 

“Hey, Ron,” Luna turned her full attention on him, “I never got a reply from you about the reunion?” She innocently questioned.

Ron, having not expected that topic to come up, started to choke on his eggs. Blaise smacked him on the back while he continued speed marking the homework. Recovering, Ron looked at Luna unsure what to say, he had completely forgotten Luna was the one organizing it. 

Luna tilted her head to the side, studying Ron before speaking, “My mother always said you should hit your issues head-on, run right into them again and again until they break,” She nodded. 

“Something will break first,” Blaise mumbled, looking up for the first time and was now watching Luna with a calculating look as if he was trying to work out how many times Luna had used this method in fixing her problems. 

“Thanks, Luna,” Ron slowly muttered, wanting to add  _ ‘that’s not useful,’ _ but biting his tongue. 

“I had better go,” Luna called looking at her watch, “we don’t want Rolf’s pet Dabberblimps to break into the Library again,” She hummed with a smile, “See you at the reunion,” She waved while pulling her odd coloured glasses on again. Before quickly greeting the other teachers and stopping to speak with Headmistress McGonagall. 

“I did not think it was possible for her to get any weirder,” Parvati commented, coming to sit in the free seat next to Neville. As the Group watched Luna once more dance out of the Great Hall. “She spent so long speaking to Professor Trelawney, I had no time to set the classroom up, I was certain I was going to miss breakfast,” The Assistant Divination Professor continued, as she grabbed some remaining food. Pulling Neville into a discussion. 

Glancing at his food, Ron didn’t feel like eating anything anymore. He let Luna’s words sink in. Clearly Luna knew there were issues between him and Hermione, He wondered how many other people knew about it. Did he really need to address the situation between them? Couldn’t he continue ignoring it and pretending that part of his life never happened. Shaking his head, Ron ran a hand through his hair. No, he was a teacher now not a student, he couldn't keep hiding from his problems. He knew they had to discuss their relationship at some point, they had ended on such an abrupt end, neither got the chance to clear the air. They needed to sit down and have a heart-to-heart, if not for them for their shared friends; who were basically family at this point. But just the idea of trying was already giving Ron a headache; getting Hermione to talk about her emotions was like making a rock cry. Never going to happen. He’d spent nearly 10 years trying and failing on that matter. 

Ron’s thoughts were broken by the sound of the five-minute warning bell, as the surrounding people started to get up.

“Good luck with practice today!” Neville patted Ron on the back as he stood up. 

_ ‘Yes the game,’ _ Ron suddenly remembered. Cheering up as he ran through his newest gameplay once more in his brain. Letting it remove any memory of the Reunion. 

* * *

Afternoon Tea in the greenhouse was one of the daily rituals that was already fully established before Ron returned to Hogwarts. While most people would hear the words ‘afternoon tea’ and ‘greenhouse’ and picture a romantic moment hidden amongst the plants while enjoying various sweets and cakes. The reality was a rusty table with odd chairs, that threatened to break at any moment and cups of tea which required several heating charms to keep them lukewarm. 

It all started because of Blaise; who had seen it as a good quiet place, to escape the madness that was Hogwarts and any potential students who might have questions to ask. He enjoyed the solitude and peacefulness the greenhouse held. Surprising even himself when he found Neville’s rants about the newest discoveries or issues with his plants, almost soothing. It was where the pair had originally bonded. So afternoon Tea still held a special place in Blaise’s heart - not that he would tell anyone - which was made better on the odd occasions Ron would join them. Ron however, didn’t see the charm. He’d much prefer to sit in the warm Great hall enjoying a full banquet of food, often pointing out he’d see the pair that night. Which is why they knew Ron turning up at the greenhouse meant something was bothering him. 

Blaise was only partly listening to Neville’s current one-sided discussion on the growing a new type of plant on the school grounds instead of importing it, when he spotted Ron approaching the greenhouse. Mud splattered up the side of his teaching robes, his shoulders ever so slightly slumped, his bag practically dragging on the floor behind him. 

“Practice didn’t go well,” He stated, catching Neville off guard. 

Blaise kept his eyes on Ron, watching as he ran a hand through his already tousled and messy hair, carrying on down across his face, before nearly crashing into the door. Then freezing as he entered the greenhouse, looking around trying to pinpoint where the classical music was coming from. Blaise tried to not laugh at his confused expression. 

“What on earth is this racket?” Ron questioned with a pinched expression as he reached the pair. 

“I’m testing a new theory,” Neville smiled up from his sandwich, as he started explaining his newest project, “New research suggests that the vibrations from sound waves help interact with the mechanoreceptors, which can help increase the regrowth rates by-.”

“Neville?” Ron butted in, the confused expression on his face only growing, showing how he wasn’t following Naville’s train of thought.

“He’s trying to see what music helps the plants grow stronger,” Blaise summed up with a smug smile, as Neville just playfully rolled his eyes returning Blaise’s smile with a real one.

“Ah right,” Ron nodded. Taking a seat at the table, and listening to the music for only a few seconds before snapping, “Urgg it’s bad enough the entire school is Dance crazy without you two starting,” Ron slumped in his chair, throwing his head back as he spoke. 

Blaise just shot Neville a look, this was the first he had heard about any dance going on. 

“He has to teach the Quidditch team how to dance,” Neville easily read Blaise’s look and whispered back, “The Beauxbaton’s are welcoming their arrival with a dance.” 

‘Oh,’ Blaise silently opened his mouth, observing Ron’s discomfort over the topic at hand. Smiling, an idea came to him. He stood up straightening his jacket, walking around the table. 

“Will you do me the honour of dancing with me?” He held out his hand towards Ron with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. 

“Har, har,” Ron sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes, and he lightly pushed Blaise’s hand away from him. 

“I’ll dance with you,” Neville chuckled at the pair’s interactions. 

“Nev, Darling,” Blaise jokes, as he came around the table, “Will you make me the happiest man, and dance with me?” Blaise held his hand out to Neville with an overly dramatic bow, completely aware of Ron’s rolling his eyes with an indignant huff. 

Laughing Neville accepted Blaise’s hand as he stood up, the pair began a slow waltz around the greenhouse. Only laughing more as they sped up their waltz in an effort to match the tempo of the music, causing them to race around in circles. Meanwhile, Ron decided to ignore the pair in favour of finishing off Blaise’s sandwich. 

“Come on, come join us!” Neville called as they danced past him. Ron looked up and tried to not acknowledge the pair’s dancing skill and grace. They both appeared to float around the room, perfectly in time with each other, despite being completely off-beat with the music as they went.

“Pass,” Ron replied the next time they travelled past.

“Big baby,” Blaise teased, once more waiting till they had passed the table to comment.

Ron waited till they returned to reply, “I’ll have you know-” he started to argue, before finding himself being grabbed and pulled to his feet. 

It all happened so fast, it took him a second to realise what was happening, before he found himself in the middle of a Blaise and Neville sandwich. The pair stood holding hands forming a circle around Ron. Who was adamant he wouldn’t join in their silly games, standing tight crossed his arms in protest, as the pair continued trying to dance around him. Blaise and Neville just laughed as they failed miserably to move him. In the end, they settled on turning in circles around Ron, who still looked unimpressed and tried to not let a smile take over his face. 

“Seriously? You are nearly 30-year-old men, you look stupid,” Ron half-heartedly argued after he attempted to escape the circle and failed. 

“You look stupid for not dancing,” Neville laughed back. 

“Come on,” Blaise shook his head, offering one of his rare wide toothy smiles, “We learnt this while we were in school,” he pointed out, as the pair came to a standstill, only slightly dizzy from circling Ron. 

Neville stood in front of Ron, and Blaise’s hands came up to rest on his hips, standing a bit closer. Neville picked up Ron’s hand holding it up, as he placed the other on his hip. Ron shot him a look saying ‘really?’ to which Neville only laughed harder. Reluctantly Ron let the pair slowly move him around the greenhouse in slow easy movements still out of time with the music. 

“I know how to dance,” Ron found himself saying later, as he tried to hide how much he was enjoying himself, even if he did feel like an idiot. 

“Then prove it,” The ex Slytherin teased, his voice skipped across Ron’s neck.

“No fair,” Ron mumbled back. Before he started to dance without being forced to. He had to admit, maybe if he had danced with Neville or Blaise at the Yule Ball - instead of Padma - he might have enjoyed it a lot more. 

Blaise let his hands slip off Ron’s hips as he took a step back, letting Ron and Neville continue to slowly dance around the room, Ron’s eyes glued to his feet. Glancing up every so often then promptly tripping and standing on Neville’s toes. Blaise tried not to laugh, especially since Neville tried his hardest to just smile through the pain and not let it distract them. Blaise almost wanted to take a picture of the moment and tried to memorize every detail. 

When the song changed, Neville and Ron paused their discussion before they approached the table, 

“Mr Zabini. Would you do me the honours?” Ron rolled his eyes as he held his hand out. 

Blaise looked up at Ron’s face and tried to bite back a smile. While one dance couldn’t solve all of Ron’s problems, it had succeeded to lighten his mood and make him smile. 

* * *

Ron was thankful he couldn’t hear Blaise and Neville playing that stupid classical music as he approached their room that night. Had It been the other way around Ron would have blasted that music as a joke. However, that might have more to do with the three months he spent working with his brothers before getting this teaching job. He shuddered remembering it now, that job nearly killed him. 

Greeting the others as he entered the room, Ron wasn’t surprised to find Blaise seated at his desk, buried in a book, while Neville checked on his ever-growing plant corner of the room. It had started with one small plant which needed extra attention and soon it had become a mini-greenhouse if it’s own. Ron had been thankful when Blaise put his foot down to Neville's idea of keeping a Screechsnap inside the shower.

Dumping his teacher's robes and bag on the floor, Ron got to work packing for the competition - Before Blaise started to pest him, he’d like to add. He pulled random clothes from the wardrobe and threw them on the bed, trying to work out exactly what he needed to take. While practice this morning hadn’t gone well, It just meant they were one step closer to working out a winning play. It could have been worse, they could have tried that in the actual match. Pushing the thought from his mind, Ron resumed collecting the items he would need.

“Has anyone seen my Pillow?” Ron questioned as he pulled his head from the wardrobe. 

“The one on the bed?” Neville lowered his eyebrows in confusion at Ron’s question, He looked over his shoulder towards the bed then back to Ron. 

“Not that one, I mean my smaller fluffy pillow,” Ron half laughed as he checked under the bed again. “I guess I could take that one,” He sat up and looked at his usual large pillow, wondering if it will fit into his suitcase along with his clothes. 

“Why do you want a pillow?” Neville placed his misting can down, as he turned his attention away from the plants. 

“In case the French have weird Pillows...?” Ron confidently started to answer, then soon turned it into a question.

“What makes you think the French have weird Pillows?” Neville laughed as he sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“Draco said..” Ron let his words trail off.

“Draco’s a git,” Blaise called from his desk. His random words were always the only sign he was listening. 

“Yeah. Just remembered that,” Ron nodded, and tried to not scold himself for falling for another one of Draco’s stupid pranks. Looking around the room once more, Ron stood in silence for a while, still feeling unsure.

“Do you still want to take your pillow?” Neville smiled.

“Well I mean, Mum spent so much time knitting a cover for it...” Ron mumbled, resuming his search for it. “Blaiseeeee,” He called, the sudden realisation of who in their room would know the exact location of it. 

“Check inside your suitcase again,” Blaise hummed, almost smugly. 

“Oh.” Maybe that was a good idea, Ron looked at the pile of clothes and realized he had to put them somewhere. “Blaise, where is my suitcase?” 

“What?” Blaise suddenly snapped around finally looking at the scene behind him, his eyes going wide at the pile of clothes realising what was happening. “Are you trying to look like a crease monster?” He huffed, stood up and took over packing from Ron. 

Ron took a seat on the bed, trying to not laugh as he listened to Blaise grumble while he packed Ron’s suitcase, finding the small pillow in the process. 


	3. The quidditch competition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again Thank you to M for naming the Cafe <3

Neville and Blaise had resumed their usual spot in the high table. Only one person was missing but it was enough to cause the entire atmosphere to shift and change, making their end of the table feel empty. Neville had been trying to fill the silence gap but was so far unsuccessful. Which is why the two professors were sat in silence when the news of Hogwarts' recent defeat at the hands of the Beauxbatons Academy at their Quidditch match, spread around the room. 

“Ron is going to be gutted,” Neville muttered as he leant towards Blaise, lowering his voice. 

“Mmm,” Blaise nodded quietly stirring his tea.

“First the entire marriage and job ordeal. Then when he finally found his feet again and got settled the reunion appeared, now this loss. This year isn’t going well for him,” Neville continued, shaking his head slightly. 

“And he’s been forced to live with us,” Blaise muttered, lifting an eyebrow. 

Neville just rolled his eyes. Blaise was terrible at jokes, his stone face not helping matters. 

“The students will be happy for a break from practice, did I tell you I caught four different students trying to steal Mint from the greenhouse, this week alone?” Neville continued trying to fill the silence, “Because when you ground it down into a salve, mint has this unique quality..”

“The Muffinliato” Blaise stated out the blue, cutting Neville off. 

“Huh?” Neville was totally lost. 

“It sells those sweets and rubbish,” Blaise muttered, taking a bite of his food with the indifferent grace he always used.

The realisation of what Blaise was suggesting hit him; taking Ron out to a cafe to cheer him up. Neville just sat staring at him for a while with a small smile on his face. “You've changed your tune a lot.” 

“I mean he's okay,” Blaise half shrugged. 

“I still remember when he first got the teaching job and you hated him,” Neville raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the memory. 

“I didn't hate him, just..” Blaise let his words trail off. 

“Just didn't trust him,” Neville finished off his sentence for him. 

“He was all, sex this, sex that,” Blaise shivered at the memory. 

Neville laughed. Ron had mentioned sex once in a joke, but Blaise had decided to hate him because of it. Well, that wasn’t exactly true; Blaise had started falling for Ron the second they re-met in the greenhouse. Ron had wandered into the Greenhouse and the Flutterfly Snare had tried stealing Ron’s broom leading to a rather entertaining fight between the two. Shaking his head Neville hadn’t been surprised to see Blaise fall back on his usual self-preserving method of shutting Ron out and trying to ignore him. It got to the point where Neville had to sit him down in their room one night and ask what on earth was going on. He hadn’t expected Blaise, close to tears (as Blaise can sometimes get), to confess that not only was he scared of liking Ron - in case he wanted more physically - but he also didn’t want Neville to leave him for Ron, an idea that never crossed Neville’s mind. They had spent the night talking through everything. When he had texted Luna the next day to explain what was happening he hadn’t expected her to turn up with an entire magical funfair. He wasn’t sure how that happened, but it became a turning point for their relationship. 

Nowadays it was completely different, they were happy together and Blaise was coming more and more out of his shell. Neville liked talking about Ron, because it always got a reaction, always got Blaise to speak. Blaise never talked. It had taken Neville nearly a year to get a full sentence. Now they sometimes got entire conversations out of him. A topic he once accidentally mentioned to Blaise, who just scoffed and protested by not speaking a word for the next three days. 

“But now you know you can trust him.” Neville cocked his head to the side, a small smile as he spoke.

Blaise meanwhile had taken the lull in the conversation as a chance to escape back to his wordless cocoon, focusing on finishing his food. Which reminded Neville of this new creature they had just found in the Amazon.

* * *

As soon as Ron spotted the lights still on in the greenhouse he started to make his way over. It was nearly midnight by the time the team had finally got back to Hogwarts. It had been a long and depressing journey back home. His team had worked hard; they put their all into it, however, they still made simple mistakes costing them the game. Ron was beyond annoyed. They had the skill and the ability to win, a fact he reminded them off several times, eventually giving up when he realised no one was even listening. He was supposed to be a good coach - a strategist - able to plan forward and foresee the other team’s moves. Yet the recent game had proved that wrong. As he entered the greenhouse, Ron caught a flash of his reflection in the glass door, he looked as tired and defeated as he felt. Neville meanwhile was busy with his head in a flower bed as Ron approached. 

“Mate the suns gone to bed, why are you still working?” He heard himself comment without his usual humour.

Snapping around at the sound of the voice, Neville’s smile widened as he spotted Ron, “Hello!” He called standing up and walking over. He also looked tired, his short stubble longer than it had been when he left. In typical Neville style, he was covered in dirt with smudges across his cheek. 

“I was just doing some late night pruning of the Venomous Tentacula ready for tomorrow's sixth-year lesson,” Neville explained, as Ron walked straight into his arms. Resting his head on Neville’s shoulders, he closed his eyes. He had always been secretly annoyed at the height difference between them all. However, now it seemed to work to his benefit, especially when Neville brought his arms up to circle around Ron. Neville felt like a giant teddy bear and always gave the best hugs. 

“Life sucks.” Ron mumbled a while later, feeling the full impact of the recent events only now hit him. Neville just kissed him on the forehead. His beard scratched against Ron’s skin, as Ron hugged him closer.

“Have I ever told you what my grandmother always says, at times like this?” Neville broke the silence. 

“Well if your Grandmother had been playing, she wouldn’t have missed it! Greenberg was wide open!! Wide! I could have driven a double-decker bus through the gap he had!” Ron started to rant and complain. Not letting Neville get a word in edgewise until he got all his frustrations out into the open. 

Neville, meanwhile, just waited for him to finish, before peppering kisses around his face gently. Slowly making his way to Ron's lips then slowly kissing him. Ron could feel his face starting to itch from the beard burn he was getting but ignored it, pushing further into Nevilles touch, letting his worries float away. 

“Come on, let’s go pester the other one,” He smiled, when the pair pulled apart, slightly out of breath. He leaned forwards and captured Neville’s lips again before he could reply. 

* * *

The teacher’s common room was dead. Turning the page, Blaise knew he should go to bed but he was enjoying the quietness. Relaxing in his favourite ‘old man armchair’ - as certain people insisted on calling it - while he was making good headway into his book. 

"Your king has returned,” Ron declared entering the room as soon as he spotted Blaise, “you may now relax. Bow down in my presence, peasants," he waved his hands, as he approached Blaise. Neville chuckled as he followed in behind. 

“Pass,” Balise replied, not looking up from his book. 

“As your king, I demand a Pupper pile!” Ron raised a hand to the air, smiling at the idea. 

“Don’t,” Balise gave up trying to argue. As Ron and Neville were already climbing over the chair arms and forcing themselves besides Blaise. 

“Do you mind? I want to read my book.” 

Blaise pulled his arm free from under Ron’s butt, with mock annoyance. As he finally looked up and saw exactly how tired and defeated Ron looked. 

“Now you can read to us,” Neville laughed, and settled under Blaise’s other arm, in an attempt to try to see what he was reading. 

“I can’t see the book,” Ron argued. He snuggled closer, burrowing into Blaise’s warmth.

“Then move,” Neville laughed happily from his spot. 

“How about you both move and let me read my book?” Blaise commented half-heartedly. As he pulled the pair closer. Balise wouldn’t give up these two idiots for anyone. 

“How about we move to the bed? I don’t think my back could put up with this for much longer, we’ve also got to be up early tomorrow,” Neville said not long after, stretching his back as he went to stand up. 

“And I need to shower,” Ron mumbled standing up as he smelled himself. The long day of travelling really wasn’t the best. “Wait, tomorrow's Saturday. Why are we getting up early?” 

“We thought we’d try out the Muffinliato cafe,” Neville replied after fully detangling himself from the chair. 

“The one with the triple-layered treacle fudge cake?” Ron perked up at the mention of it.

* * *

The Muffinliato cafe was perfect. It was a small, newly built cafe which specialised in various different flavours and styled cakes. Within seconds of walking in, Ron had seen it becoming a favourite of his. 

He leaned back in his seat as the others chatted away, Ron looked around the table. He had been pleasantly surprised when Harry turned up. He was not expecting his best friend to find any free time to join them amongst the crazy hours he kept with his Auror job. Ron wasn’t surprised when Draco turned up. Naturally stating he was joining his partner for an afternoon out. But in reality, Ron was convinced Draco had a terrifying ability to sense when someone was thinking about sweets from miles off and would appear out of nowhere. The image of Draco as a small scent hound sniffing out sweets and cakes always popped into his head. The thought made him laugh, much to Draco’s annoyance. 

Regardless, he was glad Draco was here; he was the only other person who shared his passion for food. The others didn’t understand. Draco was highly opinionated and shared Ron’s understanding that no two cakes were ever alike. The lively discussion over which cake to pick, then the debate over which was the best, was exactly what Ron needed to get his mind off the terrible week he had. 

While he did love the others, they just weren't up to the task the way Draco was. Neville was happy with anything and everything. While Blaise and Harry would rather just have a cup of tea and skip the sweets. Blaise, because he was a boring guy, Harry due to his work. 

Taking another bite from his cake, Ron let his mind flick back to his former life, the hours of working out he had to do to keep up with the impressive Auror fitness regimen Kingsley had intimated. He didn’t know how he kept it up, well he did, it was Hermoine. She never did appreciate his work ethic, calling him out and demanding he worked harder. She had occasionally accompanied him on runs and would motivate him to attend gym sessions every morning. Looking back now, he wondered if that could have been more about getting him out of the house than maintaining his fitness levels. As the bitter thought bubbled up, he took another bite of the cake letting the sweetness take over. No, those days were long gone. Nowadays he wasn’t forced to race around behind people, he could fly and use his whistle, the whistle was the best. Whistles and cake, his life was going well. The thought that maybe he should add Neville and Balise onto that list, crossed his mind as he looked around the table again.

He really enjoyed afternoons like these, especially when it came with good cake, considering he was now restricting the number of sweet things he would eat, Ron was fully aware he was going soft around the edges in his old age. Since becoming the flying instructor he knew he had gained some weight and needed to be careful to not gain much more, he really couldn’t pull off the cubby soft look Neville was adorable for. However, the cake was delicious. It also didn’t help that Draco was here. Draco was annoying as hell, he would eat an entire cake and still not gain a pound of weight. As if to prove a point, Draco was sitting with his large milkshake in hand, having finished his second piece of cake and was currently staring directly at Ron, almost waiting for him to make eye contact before he spoke. 

“So the reunion,” Dracos grey eyes bore into Ron as he sipped his straw. An evil smirk forming on his face.

Ron wanted to huff; he had just got his mind off that topic. 

“No, no let’s not start this.” Harry tried to interrupt him. 

“Just because you aren’t picking sides doesn’t mean I can’t.” Draco shooed Harry off, reflecting his attempts. “So how are we destroying the bitch?” His smile turned evil, in a way Ron was not prepared for.

“Huh?” Ron choked on his drink, “You’re on my side?” 

Ron failed at hiding the shock in his voice. He didn’t know how to react, he hadn’t expected that reaction or opinion from Draco. Ron wanted to smile at the thought that Draco would have his back. 

“Of course I’m on your side,” Draco eyebrows went up to his hairline, looking as if it was the most obvious thing. Draco eyed him up and down a couple of times, before deciding clearly Ron didn’t need to be part of the conversation and turned to the other members of the table. “Naturally you’ll be getting the outfit,” He stated towards Blaise who simply nodded. 

Left out, Ron and Harry spoke between themselves. Draco had excluded Harry from the conversation before it had even started.

“Ron,” Harry broke into Ron’s thoughts before he sighed leaning forwards “Look, mate,” Harry used that tone he always did when he was trying to keep the peace between his two best friends.

“Don’t,” Ron shook his head, he completely understood where Harry was coming from, but it still hurt. Harry had been adamant from the very start that he was Switzerland in this entire ordeal, friends with both of them he wouldn’t pick sides. He wouldn’t even listen to Rons rants after it happened. 

Ron sighed. He wasn’t going to hold it against Harry, as much as he might want to, “Sooo did you see Luna’s newest article?” Ron changed the subject. 


	4. The day of the reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Mentions of panic attacks/anxiety attacks.  
> There is a mention of the start of a panic attack, it’s right at the end of this chapter after the singing part. It’s labelled under (***) or I've written out what happens in the notes at the end.

“Blaise?” Neville patted his shoulder pulling the other from his daze. “Hey,” He said with a smile when Blaise finally looked at him. “Away with the fairies?” 

“Something like that.” Blaise nodded, glancing down at his half-written out lesson plan as he closed the notebook. 

“I was just saying, I’m going to take a nap, why don’t you join me? I feel like this reunion is going to be a late-night tonight,” Neville said. 

“Is grandpa worried about staying awake?” Blaise smirked.

“You are still rubbish at jokes,” Neville laughed pulling his shoes off. 

Blaise gave him an unimpressed look. He thought that joke was good, others would have laughed at it.

“Well, I'm having a nap so be quiet,” Neville hummed, almost laughing at his own joke. 

“Oh, someone's starting to sound like Ron,” Balise chuckled as he raised an eyebrow. Getting up to join Neville, he carefully pulled his robes off and folded them neatly.

“Are you nervous about the reunion?” Neville broke the silence first. 

“Yep,” Blaise simply agreed, lying down on his back. 

“Good. Same. I’m petrified, maybe more than that final battle, well no not quite that level of scared but still. At least you and Ron have something to show, some sort of self-growth, I'm still the exact same,” Neville started to ramble.

Blaise snorted shaking his head. 

“What? I am? Socially awkward, fat, boring,” Neville quietly muttered.

“You’re not fat, you’re cuddly,” Blaise smiled wrapping an arm over Neville, as he rolled on his side. “Do I need to bring Ron in here and get him to do another presentation about how amazing your appearance is?”

“That’s what you’re going to take from that rant?” Neville laughed remembering Ron’s drunk, nearly hour-long presentation, with diagrams and more quidditch references then Neville could understand. 

“You are the saviour, the wonder boy everyone wants to meet,” Blaise continued listing off parts, quickly adding “after Harry,” When Neville shot him a look. “You killed a giant snake! Everyone loves you, you’ll have fun. After all, I'm the one with a ‘black widow’ mother,” He rolled his eyes as he spoke, “who everyone’s terrified of. I should be worried.” 

“Are you distrusting Draco’s PR skills?” Neville smiled, watching the shock cross Blaise's face.

“I never said that, don’t you dare tell him that.” 

Blaise almost looked worried. Neville didn’t blame him. Since the war, Draco had been rebuilding his and most Slytherin students' social standings through some very unique, yet effective, methods. Nowadays with Harry at his side, they were a pair to be reckoned with. 

“You worried about Ron?” Neville broke the silence after a while.

“Yep.” Blaise nodded. 

“Same,” Neville quietly admitted. He knew the only problem Ron was going to face was his own mind. 

“He keeps pulling a brave face but…” Blaise let out a breath, rolling on his back to stare up at the ceiling. 

“But you still think he's the same broken man that arrived here?” Neville questioned. 

Blaise didn’t reply, his mind already going back to that evening. Ron hadn’t been at Hogwarts for long when Harry had dragged him and Neville out drinking. Needless to say, Ron came back completely hammered. He’d gotten lost and ended up bursting into Blaise and Neville’s room quite literally. Waking Blaise up and nearly giving him a heart attack, in the process. Before starting to ramble about similar-looking rooms and sitting on the end of the bed, demanding Blaise sit with him. Blaise in his still half asleep state had been so confused he’d complied and sat next to Ron. 

“Forever, we were supposed to stay together forever,” Ron suddenly burst out in tears, as he slumped his head onto Blaise's shoulder. “We were that perfect couple who got together young and were supposed to grow old together,” He continued to cry, wiping his snotty nose on Blaise’s new silk pyjama top. Blaise wasn’t entirely sure what the process was for drunk men crying on your shoulder.

“There, there,” Blaise slowly patted him on the shoulder, unsure exactly what to do. 

“Seriously?” Ron sniffed wiping eyes, “Are you fucking serious?” Ron half laughed sitting up straight, clearly not enjoying Balises attempt at comforting him. “You are shit at being nice,” He half laughed while trying not to sob.

“Ermm….It’ll be okay?” Blaise scrunched his nose, trying a different method. 

“Now I know you’re not that shit,” Ron half chuckled, looking him in the eye.

“But I am,” Blaise joked back, trying to not break into a smile. 

“Ha, you smiled you love me!” Ron sang, but his smile quickly disappeared, “Why didn’t she love me?” Ron started to cry again, “Maybe she’s right and I need to grow up; stop laughing at everything.” 

“Don’t you dare lose your humour,” Blaise found himself replying without thinking.

“Why? You hate my humour, Hermoine hates my humour, Mum hates me for divorcing Hermoine,” He broke down into unintelligible sobs again, pressing his forehead back onto Blaise’s shoulder. 

“No, she doesn't,” Blaise awkwardly tried to argue, sure that Mrs Weasley wouldn’t hate him, no matter what he did. 

Blaise heard someone else tip-toe into the room and silently close the door. He looked around, staring helplessly at his partner. “Nevs, Nevs help?” He half-whispered, calling the other over. Trying to not move, as Ron continued to cry, making the wet patch on Blaise's shoulder even bigger.

“He didn’t drink that much,” Neville quietly commented, sitting down on the other side of Ron and rubbing circles into his back with a concerned frown. 

“More importantly, what do I do?” Blaise half-whispered, as he shot Neville a look. 

Fingers tapping over his forehead pulled Balise from his thoughts, as he found Neville leaned over on his side staring at him. “That was one time, besides it was Pansy’s fault for dragging him into that drinking contest.” Neville read Blaise’s thoughts. 

‘Hmm,’ he thought, listening to Neville’s words. This reunion meant going back in time and remembering a childhood many didn’t see positively. Blaise just hoped the three of them could come away from it without going backwards. Once more his thoughts were interrupted, but this time it was the banging of a door that caused the pair to jump. 

* * *

Ron silently trudged into the bedroom, dropping his stuff on the floor. 

“Are you guys 30 or 80?” Ron chuckled when he spotted the pair laid on top of the bed, “It’s not even 2 pm on a Saturday and you are both in bed already.” He laughed kicking off his shoes.

“It’s going to be a late-night, we are gathering our strength,” Neville called back not lifting his head. 

“Move over, I need the energy more than you two,” Ron pulled his robes off dropping it on the floor. 

Then he jumped towards the bed and wormed his way in between both Blaise and Neville. The pair dropped their arms over him. 

“You are covered in sweat and dirt,” Balise noticed displeased.

“It’s called a real job, you should try it,” Ron chuckled turning towards Neville. Ignoring Blaise as he hissed. After a few moments, he felt the bed move as Blaise cuddled up behind him, throwing an arm over him and Neville. Ron couldn’t help but smile, as the trio easily fell asleep. 

* * *

*Beep Beep, Beep Beep*

Within seconds of the alarm starting, Ron woke up tense. 

“BLAISEEEE” Ron shouted into his pillow, wanting to punch the alarm clock. Why must the vain git insist on spending so long getting ready, Ron knew he still had several hours till he had to wake up. Blaise sat up with a chuckle, and patted Ron on the head, knowing how much it annoyed him. Ron grumbled under his breath as he turned to cuddle up to the still asleep Neville and let himself nod back to sleep. He felt Balise tighten the blanket around him. 

.

Deep in sleep, the feeling of someone playing with his hair pulled him back from his dreams. Opening his eyes, he found Neville leaning over the bed, his hair dripping wet. “Good morning gorgeous,” Ron smiled up, voice still groggy. 

“Showers free for you,” Neville returned his smile as he climbed back off the bed. Ron rubbed his eyes then turned and noticed Nevllie was only wearing a towel around his waist, drops of water still travelled down his body. 

“You only have 30 minutes,” Blaise huffed from across the room. Ron slowly sat up, as he watched Blaise stand in front of the mirror, examine his outfit, before he shook his head, pulled his shirt off and threw it onto the ever-growing pile of clothes. Ron thought all of it looked good on Blaise, but clearly, they weren’t the look he was aiming for tonight. Summoning all his energy, Ron got up and stumbled into the bathroom, blinded by the light. 

.

“Ron, I thought you were getting dressed?” Nevil frowned as Ron left the bathroom, not long after. 

“I have,” Ron frowned. Glancing down at his large open shirt and t-shirt combo he was wearing. Then looking over to Neville who was sitting in the corner reading a book, wearing a branded deep red knitted cardigan and black jeans.

“Okay” Neville nodded, his face showing how much he disagreed with Ron’s opinion. 

“It’s an informal drink, my clothes are fine.” Ron rolled his eyes as he tried to locate his missing shoe.

“Those clothes give you have the sex appeal of a wet sock,” Blaise finally joined the conversation. Straightening his shirt collar and sleeves in the mirror. 

“You’re ace! Everyone has the sex appeal of a wet sock to you,” Ron mumbled, as he tried to ignore how well Blaise looked, even the hideous bold design on his black shirt didn’t take anything away. 

“And? I’m not sexually attracted to shoes but I can still tell good shoes when I see them.” Blaise made eye contact with Ron through the Mirror, and smirked when he spotted Ron staring at him. 

“You think they are good shoes?” Neville innocently questioned from his position lounging in the chair, pointing the shoes in Ron’s hand. With a confused expression on his face.

“Oh, god no.” Blaise dramatically commented. 

Sometimes Ron really wanted to throw something at Blaise. At least Neville never meant to be rude. Blaise could be as bad as Draco, when he set his mind to it.

“Har, har, very funny. I’m not trying to impress anyone so I’m going to wear my usual clothes,” Ron sat down on the edge of the bed to pull his converses on. Before he could, hard leather shoes whacked him on the head. 

Glaring at Blaise, he wasn’t surprised to find the guy in his wardrobe pulling out and inspecting various clothing items. Blaise had self-appointed himself their personal shopper. Going on frequent shopping trips and coming back with more and more clothes every time. While the majority of it was things Ron would never wear. Neville, however, was happy to wear whatever Balise threw at him. While some of the outfits were a bit weird, they all seemed to suit Neville down to the ground regardless of how outrageous the colours looked.

More often than not, Blaise would lay out entire outfits for Neville to wear the night before. Ron was surprised to find Blaise hadn’t planned an outfit for him yet. 

“Ahh no not those,” Ron argued when he saw Blaise throwing the dark blue skinny jeans he hated on the bed, “They cut off the circulation to my legs.” 

“Fashion isn’t an enjoyable thing.” 

“Really because you seem to be enjoying this,” Ron grumbled. 

* * *

When they arrived they were surprised to find a nearly deserted pub, with only a handful of tables being used. Harry and Draco were busy in a lively discussion with Pansy. While Theo looked most relieved at their arrival, having been dragged into a conversation with Luna & Rolf about several creatures living in his ears. The trio easily joined the various conversations as the group chatted amongst themselves. 

Enjoying a couple of drinks to start the evening. It didn’t take long for Blaise to start joining in with Theo’s most recent, ‘I’ll forever be single’ rant. 

“Have you ever thought,” Blaise started to question before Theo cut him off. 

“I’m not ace, don’t try to convert me.” Theo sent his friend a look.

“Yes, Blaise, don’t convert them to your misleading ways,” Pansy smirked as she spoke, not letting herself be left out of the conversation. 

“God forbid they are forced to join the world of full colour and ‘self-love,’” Draco overdramatically snarked and laughed.

“Ahh yes, the gay agender,” Pansy continued to smirk, biting back a laugh, 

“The gay agender?” Theo playfully asked, in a pretend confused tone. 

“You see for every person Blaise converts, he gets five queer points,” Draco hummed, pointing to Balise. 

“Queer points?” Theo continued to play along, asking with fake surprise as he looked around the table.

“Yes, you get them throughout your life, and the aim is to collect as many as possible.” Draco nodded, sipping his drink.

“Ahhh, do they add up to something?” 

“Well,” Pansy lent forwards checking no one was over listening, “Word on the rainbow is: the person with the most points gets the top prize, which is beyond anyone’s imagination. but no one will ever beat the winner,” She shrugged sitting back in her chair. 

“Who’s currently winning again?” Luna questioned. As Draco was biting his lip trying not to laugh. 

“Freddie Mercury,” Pansy smirked back. 

“THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING! VERY VERY FRIGHTENING, MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” The rest of the table joined in becoming a choir of out of tune singing. 

(***)

While, the group were nearly crying with tears in their eyes as Theo and Luna attempted to sing high pitched solo together. Ron only stopped laughing when he spotted Hermoine walking into the pub with, who he assumed must be her new partner close behind. It felt like the floor had been pulled out from under his feet once more, slowly he felt his confidence crashing down. Watching as the pair interacted with people at the bar, Hermoine looked much like she had when he last saw her, her hand strangely bare, laughing and smiling without a care in the world. Letting his eyes move on, Ron looked his replacement up and down, seeing only near perfection, everything an improvement to himself. He struggled to find flaws as the guy smiled and laughed with the group. He had been replaced with someone much better.

Ron felt himself start to panic, glancing around the table he tried to work out the best way to leave with no one spotting him but his body was suddenly too heavy to move, an invisible force pinning him to his seat. Staring down, Ron moved his hands to his lap, gripping them into fists didn’t help stop them shaking. When he suddenly felt Blaise’s hand press against the small of his back, a warm presence he was only slightly aware of. 

“Hey, you are okay, just breath,” Blaise quietly whispered, his voice danced towards his ear. Ron tried to focus on Blaise’s words, as he realised how rapid his breathing was. Attempting to focus solely on his breathing, it felt like a fight he’d never win. Inhaling and exhaling in sync with the movement of Blaise’s hand as it slowly travelled up and down his back, maintaining enough pressure to tell he was there. 

Ron wasn’t sure how long it took, but he finally felt his breathing come back under control, as he became aware of the noise around him. He waited, still staring down at his lap, for a few more minutes before slowly looking up, glad to find the table still full of chatter, and that no one had noticed his panic. The pub had got a lot busier since they arrived and Ron didn’t think he could stand the embarrassment if they did. He turned to look at Balise and shot him a small smile, Balise always seemed to know what others were thinking. 

“You really are a tall rock,” Ron slid an arm around Blaise’s waist, resting his head on the others shoulder.

“And you’re a short redhead,” Blaise replied, a matter of factly. 

Ron tried not to scoff and laugh at Blaise’s reply, but failed. 

“Yeah, don’t worry we are here for you!” Nevile nudged his elbow from the other side, shooting him a reassuring look, as he grabbed Ron’s hand. 

“Urg they are being cute again. Draco, stop them!” Pansy’s fake disguised voice broke into their moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re the tw:  
> Ron sees Hermoine and starts to panic then his boys help ground him, and stop the attack. <3  
> It's at the end and under the (***) page break.


	5. The truth comes out.

As the evening progressed, the group started to split up, venturing out to socialize with others. The music started to play and people got drunk. Blaise left Pansy and Harry to another argument. He didn’t have the heart to watch Potter get defeated again. Would the boy ever learn never to enter an argument with Pansy?. 

Instead, he headed to join Ron, Neville and Draco at the bar, who were talking to a pair of women. Approaching the group he recognized one as Professor Parvati, or maybe it was Padma, he could never tell them apart, relying strongly on the teaching robes to identify each twin. Whoever she was, she seemed to be halfheartedly trying to pull the other woman away from the group. Apparently, he had arrived just in time to hear the tail end of their conversation. 

Blaise watched as the tall blonde, with far too much makeup and too little clothes in his opinion, stepped out of the Patil Twins grip. “Only if cutey here agrees to come join us,” She winked at Neville, a flirtatious look in her eyes, instantly putting Blaise on edge. He studied her face, trying to remember who she was, she vaguely reminded him of the Hufflepuff Susan.

“No, thank you, I’m good,” Neville just smiled back holding up his drink, the complete picture of innocence. Blaise wanted to roll his eyes; Neville could be so oblivious about some things. He almost felt sorry for the possible Susan as her face fell. Almost.

“Oh, okay,” she replied sounding deflated. Blaise was glad she realised she stood no chance. 

“I’ll see you guys Monday,” The twin smiled at the group, her eyes full of humour at the situation. Turning she nodded, “Draco,” then pulled Susan away.

“I really don’t get how you,” Draco turned to Neville, “can pull anyone in this building.” Draco shook his head, watching the women walk away.

“What can I say? People love a good Longbottom,” Neville shrugged with a wink. 

They all rolled their eyes with a moan. Blaise chuckled and turned to look over the bar to hide his smile. 

“Oh, come on that was good!” Neville tried to protest, as he looked around the group.

“No, no it wasn’t,” Draco shook his head. 

Chuckling Ron threw an arm over Neville’s shoulder, and pulled him close, “For you, it’s good,” Ron nodded, then kissed Neville’s cheek, “The best joke in the world!” 

“You’re too drunk to count,” Neville laughed pulling back from Ron’s grip to sit back on his barstool before he was pulled off.

“Drunk on my love for you,” Ron shot back, causing the group to burst into laughter. 

After that Neville and Draco started some sort of discussion, Ron leant back on the barstool, seemingly not listening to the others talk. 

“Hey, how's it going?” Blaise asked in a low voice, placing a hand on Ron’s lower back, and rubbing circles into his back, to grab his attention. 

Ron turned to Blaise looking at him for a while before sighing, and letting the weight fall from his shoulders as he spoke in a slightly lower tone. 

“Honestly, it’s awkward as hell,” He shrugged one shoulder, before half-smiling and tilting his head towards the group behind him, “but, I’ve got this monkey to make it more awkward then it needs,” Ron joked, pointing towards Neville with a smirk.

“You sure?” Blaise raised an eyebrow, not believing Ron’s words.

“Yep. All fine and dandy,” Ron answered a bit too fast for it to be true. 

Blaise just stared at him for a while, searching his face. 

“Okay,” Blaise nodded. “In that case, I’m getting drunk,” he said, turning to order from the Bar.

“Wait,” Ron shot his hand out stopping Blaise, despite him not moving. “You hate crowded bars and pubs,” He slowly said, continuing after Balise nodded. “But you are staying with us?” Ron’s face lit up as he spoke, a child-like wonder in his eyes.

Blaise smirked, as he leant forward, close to Ron’s ear, “And leave you here all alone, and in sole charge of looking after my pride and joy?” He whispered, shooting a look over Ron’s shoulder towards Neville. 

Ron didn’t turn around, instantly knowing who Blaise was looking at. He waited until Blaise leant back before he wrapped his arms around Blaises waist pulling him forwards. 

Having been unexpectedly moved, Blaise glanced down to find Ron, staring up at him while resting his chin on Blaises chest. Adding a fake pout for maximum annoyance, Blaise was sure. 

“But I thought I was your pride and joy?” Ron jokingly whined.

It wasn’t until Ron started to flutter his eyelashes, that Blaise nearly laughed, nearly. He took a moment to keep his features cool and unaffected, not wanting to give the idiot the satisfaction of winning. 

“Only on Tuesdays.” Blaise shrugged once he trusted himself, turning to pick up his drink from the bar. 

Ron sat up letting his arms drop as he finally caved bursting out into laughter. He turned to Neville, whispered something in his ear which made Neville smile up at Blaise, a knowing look in his eyes. Blaise just shook his head, faking innocence. 

* * *

Hermione hadn’t had a chance to see or speak to Ron yet, but she was hoping she would be able to. That’s the entire reason her assistant Jonathan had joined her today, to give her the courage to do it. While she still felt bitter about the entire ordeal, Hermione had started to move on and thought closer was exactly what they both needed. Looking back she realised how fast she was to act without pausing to let either one express their emotions on the matter. They had both made mistakes and this reunion was the perfect chance to bury the hatchet as they call it. 

Currently, she had found herself in deep conversation about ministry matters with Millicent, Lisa and Angelina. Her new assistant was also helping keep the conversation going, so she was free to sit back and listen. That was until an overly energetic and rather loud voice broke Hermione’s attention. She tried to tune out the woman's voice but failed, as she came to sit with the ladies on the adjoining table. Glancing over, Hermione wasn’t surprised to find the voice belonging to Susan, who seemed to already be tipsy if the volume and the way she was speaking was anything to go by.

“I’m heartbroken. Give me a hug,” Susan declared, throwing herself into the chair, in a fake sad voice. As Parvati came to sit down across from her trying not to laugh. 

“We did warn her,” Padma quietly commented with a shake of her head from across the table. 

“Oh? What happened?” Cho questioned her friend, as she sat on Cedric’s Lap. 

“We tried-” Susan said. 

“You tried, I was not part of it,” Parvati quickly butted in.

“Yes, you were,” Susan laughed, “WE” she energetically commented, looking directly at Parvati, before turning back to the table, “tried flirting with the guys at the bar and I got completely shut down.” 

Susan rested her head on Padma’s shoulder with a sigh. 

“Which guys?” Cho asked as those at their table turned to glance over at the bar.

“Ron and Neville,” Parvati smiled, pointing to where the group was standing.

Hermione’s head snapped around to look at the girls chatting, following their eye line to the bar where the group stood chatting. It wasn't the first time she had seen Ron, though it was the first time she had a chance to look at him fully. He might have softened around the edges, but his dark blue jeans and fitted jacket combination was completely different from Ron’s old style of clothes and actually looked good on him. He looked stylish and fashionable. She didn’t blame Susan for trying to flirt with him.

Hermione pretended to follow what Millicent was saying while casually listening in to the conversation at the table behind her. She shot a sly look towards the bar every so often. Susan started explaining exactly what had happened with Parvati butting in and adding contradictory bits and pieces, when Lavender’s high pitched voice butted in. 

“Won Won’s single?!” Lavender’s eyes grew as she looked across to the bar. Blatantly checking Ron out. 

“Won won?” Justin Finch-Fletchley questioned, knitting his eyebrows together and stared at Lavender.

“She means Ron,” Susan answered, rolling her eyes.

“He’s the gorgeous fiery red-head,” Lavender sighed leaning on the table, staring across the room as Ron spoke to Blaise. 

“His boyfriends think that too,” Parvati chuckled, watching Lavender’s reaction. 

“Boyfriends plural?” Lavender’s eyes went wide as she stared at Parvati. 

“Yep.” Parvati nodded, letting the P pop. “Those two next to him,” she pointed across the room, “Neville and Blaise.” 

Hermione followed the girl’s gaze, in time to watch as Ron threw an arm over Neville and kissed his cheek, causing the group to laugh. 

“No, they are just friends, that’s friendly behaviour,” Lavender argued. 

“Oh, yer cause Blaise is all over everyone,” Parvati sarcastically muttered into her drink and rolled her eyes. 

“You knew that and didn’t tell me?” Susan asked loudly, shocked and throwing a look at Parvati. 

She noticed the mischievous smirk Parvati was sending her.

“I can not… Well, actually yes I can believe you would set me up like that!” Susan burst out laughing at her friend, trying to hit her from across the table.

Hermione was still watching the bar, allowing her to see clearly the moment when Ron wrapped his arms around Blaise pulling him closer. She gasped, not expecting to see Ron resting his chin on the other’s chest looking up lovingly. It was a look she had known so well but hadn’t seen in a long time. Such bittersweet memories.

The faint sound of Ron’s laughter pulled Hermione’s attention back, watching the easy carefree interactions between him and his apparent boyfriends. She felt conflicted; sad it wasn’t directed at her but at the same time happy Ron was happy, especially when she saw corners of Blaises lips raised in a genuine smile as he stared down at Ron. She couldn’t remember seeing Blaise ever smile like that.

“So that’s the famous Ron,” Jonathan whispered, as he leant back in his chair following Hermione’s gaze. 

“Yep,” She nodded, not moving her eyes.

“His photos don’t do him justice.” He nodded, before turning to Hermione “So are we going to do this?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“Later, I’ll try to catch him when he’s alone.” 

Hermione didn’t want to interrupt what appeared to be a private moment for Ron. She thought approaching him while he was surrounded, by not only his boyfriends but also Draco, wasn’t going to end well for her, especially if Draco’s death glares she’d been receiving all evening was anything to go by. 

“Fine, I’ll let this slide this one time, but you are speaking to him before we leave!” Jonathan nodded slowly. 

In the end, Hermione couldn’t find a chance to speak to Ron alone, using her own courage and Jonathan's constant ‘motivation speeches’ as he called it, she decided to approach Neville to give him her number and ask him to pass it on to Ron. That was until Neville kept disappearing swept up in the groups of people. Watching the time pass and knowing they had to leave soon for their early morning floo to Australia, she found herself realising Blaise was probably her best bet. With a deep breath, she downed her drink, then walked towards his table. 


	6. Reunited but not solved

It wasn't that Blaise hated night clubs, it was just that he got bored of them. Dancing while drunk can be fun until someone decides a hand on the butt is a great greeting, or the music tells everyone to grind on those around them. While the leaky cauldron wasn't exactly a nightclub, the way people were clearing an area in the corner to create a dance floor, he wouldn’t be surprised if it turned into one. 

As much as he wanted to leave and be done, Blaise knew he couldn't do that to Ron. Who was currently looking very uncomfortable and confused while Luna explained something to him. Blaise tried not to laugh and hoped Colin Creevey would get a photo of Ron’s expression. It was priceless. So distracted, he didn’t see the person approach the table until they cleared their throat. 

“Granger,” He replied, partly in surprise at finding her standing in front of him. 

"Blaise." Hermione nodded. "I was wondering if you could pass this to Ron?" She placed a piece of folded paper onto the table.

"Give it to him yourself." Blaise kept his face neutral, as he sat back in his chair and took a sip of his drink.

"Seriously, are you a child?" She crossed her arms and huffed. 

He watched Hermione and bit back a laugh, though anger started to boil up. He placed his drink down and locked eyes with her before he spoke. 

"Says the woman who went on holiday with her boyfriend leaving her husband to find an empty house and divorce papers on the table." He watched as Hermione’s face fell more with every word.

"He wasn’t my boyfriend.” Hermione paused briefly taking a deep breath. “It was not supposed to happen like that." Hermione’s reply was defensive.

"But it did," Blaise replied and shrugged. He didn’t snap at her, because his mother had raised him to be someone who kept this composure. Regardless of how others might behave. 

“I’m trying to apologise,” She practically hissed, glaring at Blaise. “I messed up, Ron messed up. We both made mistakes and I just want to build bridges.” 

“By not speaking to him?” Blaise scoffed and lifted an eyebrow. 

“Hey, Hermione!” Neville’s friendly voice broke into the tense atmosphere that had built up. 

“Hey Neville, long time no see,” Hermione replied, her voice slightly strained. 

“Long time,” He nodded, shooting Balise a look. 

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone.” She sent Neville a small smile before retreating away from the table, leaving Blaise to down the remainder of his drink. 

"What was that about?" Neville questioned slowly as he sat down at the table and watched Hermione leave.

"Look who shows up as she’s leaving," Blaise scoffed, before he looked at his empty glass again. 

"Oi, I'm not the enemy here!" Neville held his hands up in surrender. 

Blaise sighed and let his shoulders drop in an attempt to let his frustrations go. Why must she insist on speaking with Ron through him? Couldn’t she just grow up and actually speak to Ron in person? As conflicting as the idea was, Blaise didn’t want Hermione anywhere near Ron, but he was sure Ron wouldn’t appreciate her current method of dealing with things. 

“Hermione wants to build bridges, by going through us.” He picked up the piece of paper passing it to Neville, who accepted it and put it in his pocket with a nod. 

“Sorry for snapping.” Balise sighed, slouching back into his chair, his anger gone. Neville squeezed his hand, an acknowledgement that he accepted Balises apology. 

"Either way, I think you should dance." 

Neville sounded chipper as he jumped up, extended a hand out towards Blaise, and tilted his head towards the now active dance floor. Blaise wanted to roll his eyes, especially when he saw Harry hanging back. His firm decision to stay out of the mess between Ron and Hermione was not helping the situation. 

Before he could reply he felt someone grab his forearm. 

“Stop Sulking,” Draco hissed into his ear, as he dragged him up, giving Blaise a look that dared him to argue. “You are going to dance, have fun, and put on a smile for Ron,” Draco continued as he marched Blaise to the dancefloor, not letting go on his vice grip. 

* * *

Ron finally got a chance to sneak away from the group undetected, he found himself an empty table in the corner as he mulled over the evening so far, taking a breather from it all. The reunion itself wasn’t as bad as he had been picturing, seeing old faces and catching up with people he had forgotten existed had been a laugh. Seeing Hermoine from a distance hadn’t been as bad as he thought it’d be. Once he got over the initial shock; it had brought up lots of old memories that were still swirling around in his head, but he could deal with that. 

“You three really are incredibly sweet. I want to be sick,” Ginny teased, sliding into the seat next to Ron, and pulled him from his thoughts. 

“Why are you even here? You’re not even in our year!” Ron huffed to his little sister, taking a sip from his drink. 

“Some of us can’t even find one person, and you’ve got two,” Ginny completely ignored him and continued complaining. “There should be a rule against that kind of happiness,” She grumbled looking across the room. 

Ron didn’t need to look up to know who she was looking at, While he was sure it was more the idea of having someone that Ginny missed then the person specifically. “I’m sure your perfect person is just around the corner,” he finally replied.

“Seriously.” Ginny just turned to stare at him in disbelief. “Did you seriously just say that?” 

“Thought you wanted some sort of supportive brother-sister moment.” Ron shrugged. “Sounded like the right thing to say.” 

Ginny continued to stare at him, before bursting out into laughter. 

“You always have been my favourite brother,” Ginny said when she recovered from her laughing fit. She smiled and threw an arm around Ron’s shoulders.

“Don’t you dare tell Fred,” She warned. When Ron shot her a confused look she continued, “I’m setting the twins against each other, telling them I prefer the other one. This year’s Christmas presents are going to be amazing, you should see the things they’ve got me so far.” Ginny smirked.

“You are terrifying,” Ron replied, watching his sister. “Are you sure you don’t want me to set you up with Pansy?”

“No, don’t,” Ginny replied instantly, her eyes going wide before she recovered. “Yes, I am sure I don’t need my brother helping me find someone.” She shook her head, looking offended that he would even offer, then turned her attention back to the room and sat in silence.

“Why are you here Ginny?” Ron finally asked a few minutes later when it was obvious she wasn’t going to leave. 

“For the Reunion,” she said, sending him a ‘you are so stupid’ look. 

“Don't lie to me, I can tell what you lot are doing. I can look after myself,” he argued. He noticed the tag-team effort to ensure he hadn’t been left alone. Ron had become suspicious at the start of the night, but it wasn’t until Blaise had agreed to stay that he was certain of it. 

“You might be fine, but I'm not. It wasn’t right what she did to you!” Ginny passionately pointed out, giving Hermione a death glare from across the room.

“Ginny.” Ron sighed. “Honestly, I'm over it. You don't have to keep pretending to hate Hermione.” Something in his eyes must have said he was telling the truth because Ginny let her shoulders relax. 

"Good, because as shit a thing it was for her to do - don’t try to argue it was and I will never forgive her for that fact,” Ginny quickly added when Ron shot her a look. “But she's like family. I grew up with her, it’s odd not speaking to her.” Ginny continued admitting how weird it felt not speaking to her almost-sister. Before continuing excitedly, “Aaaand” she dragged the word out, “now you're happy with your two hunks." 

She wiggled her eyebrows and giggled. 

"Please never say that again, I don’t need to know my little sister thinks of them like that." Ron put his drink down with a disgusted look. 

"Eww gross, why'd you have to go and say that?” Ginny scrunched up her nose. 

"You said it first!" He teased her light-heartedly, as Neville silently joined them, smiling at the pair. 

“Heads up, he’s sussed out our evil plan.” Ginny shot a look at Neville with a wink, before she stood up to leave. 

“Ginny asked for us to set her up with Pansy,” Ron said quickly, sticking his tongue out as she went bright red, practically racing back across the pub to her teammate Katie, and the rest of the quidditch team. 

Waiting till she had left, Ron chuckled. He turned to Neville with a serious expression. 

“But in all honesty, I don’t need you guys, mummy-cuddling me.” He shook his head. 

“We have your back.” Neville shrugged. “Besides it was Blaise’s idea. You really scared him earlier when you started to panic.” 

Ron wanted to laugh at the stone-faced bugger; he didn't look concerned. He looked unbelievably uncomfortable from where Draco was holding him hostage on the dance floor. At least that’s what it looked like. Ron had been on the verge of laughing when he saw Draco dragging Blaise to the dance floor earlier. 

“Come on, let’s go pester the bugger.” Ron stood up and grabbed Neville’s hand.

“Pester not save?” Neville chuckled. 

“No saving, only pestering.” Ron nodded, his head going a bit wobbly from standing up so fast. He realised he had already drunk quite a bit tonight.

* * *

Ron snuck up behind Blaise whispering into his ear, “A little birdie told me you’ve had me under supervision all evening.” Laughing at the concerned look that shot across Blaise’s face. “So, what’s my score, do I pass?”

“With all the gay colours,” Neville joked, as he threw an arm over Ron, “Ginny told him not me.” Neville quickly explained as Blaise continued to look confused.

“No one told me, I worked it out,” Ron huffed, “And may I point out, I’m deeply offended you think I wouldn’t work it out.” Ron pretended to be offended. 

“Well, you are a Weasley,” Draco broke in and gave a half-hearted shrug.

Before Ron could question what it was supposed to mean, the music changed to one of his favourite songs and the group got dragged into another dance.

Later on, Ron noticed Draco sending strange looks behind him, it didn’t take long for it to pipe his attention, turning around he tried to follow Draco's eyes, around the edge of the make-shift dance floor, until he found Harry and realised immediately why Draco had been staring. Harry was talking to Hermione and her friend. Letting his eyes wander over them, Ron soon spotted the coats in their arms; clearly they were planning on leaving soon. 

He was surprised to feel a wave of disappointment over not having gotten a chance to speak to Hermione. Ron wasn’t entirely sure why he felt that way, thinking maybe it was the warm atmosphere and the amount of alcohol he had drunk, which helped to remove the pressure and fear of seeing her again. Ron had started thinking about beginning to resolve their issues. As if she could sense his stare, Hermoine turned around, made direct eye contact with him, and they both froze, their eyes locked. After staring for what felt like too long and neither having moved, Ron gave her a small smile, his heart beating against his chest crazily after he had done it. 

Slowly Hermoine smiled back with a small nod and relief flooded through Ron’s body. He smiled a bit bigger this time and nodded. Hermoine returned the nod with a small wave. The pair both turned their attention back to the people around them at the same time, it reminded them of how in sync they used to be. Ron smiled; he felt much lighter and more comfortable than he had in months. It was a small act, though he felt like a weight had started to be lifted from his shoulders. 

His interaction with Hermoine reminded him of something; of a certain event, he had seen happen earlier on. Suddenly with more confidence on the topic, he wrapped his arms around Blaise’s waist and stepped closer. 

“So, what was that about earlier?” Ron hummed into Blaise’s ear. 

Enjoying the way Blaise leaned closer to him before sending him a questioning eyebrow. 

“With Hermione?” 

Ron nodded towards where she was still talking to Harry. Blaise froze for a moment, watching Ron’s face for any sign of upset. Clearly, he didn’t realise Ron had seen them earlier on. 

“She wants to contact you,” he replied slowly, watching Ron's reaction closely, then relaxing when Ron only shrugged. 

“Later, I’m a bit busy now,” Ron whispered into Blaise’s ear, before leaning back and kissing him on the cheek again, chuckling at Balises unimpressed face.

“Really? Again?” The alcohol in his system reduces the effectiveness of his glare causing Ron and Neville to laugh harder. 

Regardless Blaise still wrapped an arm around Ron’s waist as the group continued to dance when Harry rejoined them. Ron finally felt lighter and more relaxed then he had all evening. 

.

* * *

As Neville had predicted it was late-night when the trio finally stumbled into their room. 

Neville was emptying his pockets when he found the folded paper.

“Oh Ron, this is Hermione's number, just in case.” He shrugged, putting it on the desk. 

“You know.” Ron stepped forward and picked up the paper turning it in his fingers. “As shit as it was, if it wasn’t for Hermione I wouldn’t have ended up with you two. I think I’m going to contact her.”

“That’s a mature thing for you to do.” Neville nodded, pulling his shoes off. 

“Shame you’re not mature then.” Blaise shrugged his shoulders. 

Ron laughed out loud as he physically tackled him onto the bed, nearly taking Neville out in the process.


End file.
